Why are red crabs on Christmas Island edible?

You cant eat the red crabs they are apparently poisonous. They also have these crabs on the island, which are supposed to be tasty, but they are protected. Nope not poisonous. Their meat is made up mostly of water so they just don't taste good and they're pointless to eat.



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And in case you were wondering, this is not a crab you would catch for dinner, these red crabs are not edible. So, whether or not you want to live there, it sounds like an interesting place to visit. But if you go, don't forget to pack your boots!

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Christmas Island red crabs are famous throughout Australia and the world for their bright red color and for their spectacular annual migration to the sea. Millions of crabs become rivers of red as they move from Christmas Island's interior rainforests to the ocean to breed and lay eggs.

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Land crabs are also edible, at least the claw and leg meat. Because they eat cultivated plants, pesticides may accumulate in the internal organs and it is for this reason that only the claw and leg meat should be eaten. Although land crabs are agile and swift, they pose no danger to humans unless captured and handled.

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Also known as the coconut crab, the robber crab is the world's biggest land crustacean. It can weigh more than 4 kg and measure up to a metre across. Christmas Island has the world's largest and best protected population of these gentle giants, which can live to be more than 50 years old.

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Christmas Island began appearing on the charts of English and Dutch navigators from the early 1600s. But it wasn't until 1643 that Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company named the island after sighting it on Christmas Day.

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Red king crabs are eaten by a wide variety of organisms including but not limited to fishes (Pacific cod, sculpins, halibut, yellowfin sole), octopuses, king crabs (they can be cannibalistic), sea otters, and several new species of nemertean worms, which have been found to eat king crab embryos.

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The aptly named Toxic Reef Crab (also referred to as the Devil Crab), Zosimus aeneus, can be so toxic as to kill within a few hours of consumption and has been reported to be used by Pacific Islanders as a means for suicide.

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